Submarine canyons as the preferred habitat for wood-boring species of Xylophaga (Mollusca, Bivalvia)

Abstract

Submarine canyons are often viewed as natural “debris concentrators” on the seafloor. Organic substrates may be more abundant inside than outside canyon walls. To determine the effects of the presence these substrates in the Blanes submarine canyon (NW Mediterranean) and its adjacent western open slope, we deployed wood to study colonizing organisms. Three replicate pine and oak cubes (i.e. most common trees inland) were moored at 900, 1200, 1500 and 1800 m depth and collected after 3, 9 and 12 months. Wood from inside the canyon was significantly more heavily colonized by the five morphotypes of wood-boring bivalves than was wood on the adjacent open slope. Xylophaga sp. A dominated all wood types and locations, with peak abundance at 900 and 1200 m depth. Its growth rate was highest (0.070 mm d−1) during the first three months and was faster (or it recruits earlier) in pine than in oak. Size distribution showed that several recruitment events may have occurred from summer to winter. Xylophaga sp. B, appeared first after 9 months and clearly preferred pine over oak. As the immersion time was the same, this strongly supported a specific association between recruiters and type of substrate. Three morphotypes, pooled as Xylophaga spp. C, were rare and seemed to colonize preferentially oak inside the canyon and pine in the adjacent open slope. Individuals of Xylophaga were more abundant inside the canyon than in nearby off-canyon locations. Blanes Canyon may serve as a long-term concentrator of land-derived vegetal fragments and as a consequence sustain more animals.